Ice cube tray for refrigerators



Nov; 7, 1933. E. BABCOCK 1,933,614

ICE CUBE TRAY FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed April 16, 1952 //7//e/') for fa r/ 5a bcock Patented Nov. 7, 1933 PATENT OFFICE ICE CUBE TRAY FOR REFRIGERATORS Earl Babcock, Chicago, 111., assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 16, 1932. Serial No. 605,590

2 Claims.

This invention relates to ice pans or trays for refrigerators and more particularly to means associated with the pan for preventing it from freezing solidly to the evaporator in which it is a placed during the freezing operation or for dislodging the pan or breaking it free from the evaporator after it has become frozen thereto.

It is a common experience in making ice cubes in an electric refrigerator or the like to find that moisture has collected on the outside of the pan and frozen so that the pan is tightly stuck to the evaporator.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and convenient means for disloding the pan from the evaporator without injury to the structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for preventing the ice cube pan from freezing solidly to the evaporator or for dislodging it after the ice has been frozen therein.

A further object is to provide a dislodging mechanism for an ice cube pan with a casing which practically encloses the same and prevents a material amount of ice forming on the mechanism.

Other objects and advantages reside in certain novel arrangements and constructions as will be apparent from a consideration of a the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fragment of an ice cube pan showing a dislodging means attached thereto and illustrating one form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the casing surrounding the dislodging means of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross sectional view of the dislodging means of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is another vertical cross sectional view of this means the view being taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is another View in cross section of the dislodging means of Figure 1 taken on the line 55 of Figure 4. p

Referring to the drawing Figure 1 discloses an ice cube pan of usual construction having a forwardly projecting handle portion 11 on the front end thereof. Near the body of the pan the handle portion 11 is provided with an opening adapted to receive and form a rather snug engagement with a slidable plunger 12. The plunger 12 which forms part of the dislodging mechanism is mounted in a casing 13 which is secured to the under portion of the handle 11 as by rivets 14 and lugs 15.

As best shown in Figures 3 and 4 the dislodging mechanism includes a shoe or pressure member 16 disposed in the lower end of the casing 13 and connected. to the casing 13 by a toggle mechanism consisting of the links 17 and 18, the pins 63 19 which connect the links 17 to the casing 13 and provide a hinge therefor, the pin 20 hingedly connecting the links 17 and 18, and the pin 21 which hingedly connects the links 18 to the shoe 16 by means of the ears 22.

For actuating the toggle, the plunger 12 is provided with a slot as indicated at 23 and this slot receives the central pin.20 of the toggle. The plunger 12 is normally in the position indicated in Figure 4 being held in that position by a coil spring 25 the upper end of which is connected to the plunger and the lower end of which engages an abutment 26 formed by bending a portion of the casing 13 inwardly.

From the above description it will be apparent 7 that a person seeking to dislodge a pan 10 from the evaporator or other structure to which it is frozen, may place his. finger under the handle 11 and his thumb upon the plunger 12 and by lifting upward with his finger and pressing downwardly with his thumb exert considerable force upon the evaporator tending to raise the pan and dislodge it. As the plunger 12 is pressed clownwardly the inclination of the slots 23 tends to move the pin 20 to the right, as viewed in Figure 4, and thus extend the toggle and force the shoe 16 downwardly. Upon the release of pressure upon the plunger 12 the spring 25 returns the mechanism to the position shown in Figure 4.

If the plunger 12 is fitted rather snugly in the opening in the handle 11 and if the shoe 16 fits rather snugly within the lower portion of the casing 13 very little air will circulate inside of the casing 13 and thus there will be no tendency for large amounts of ice to form on the toggle mechanism and hinder its operation.

It will be apparent that many changes may be made in the construction and arrangementof the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a device adapted to make ice, the combination of a pan having a portion adapted to be placed in contact with a cooling device, a handle on said pan having a horizontal portion, a. 105 plunger slidably mounted for vertical movement through said handle, a pressure exerting shoe and power transmitting mechanism connecting said plunger to said shoe so as to actuate the same upon movement of the plunger to dislodge 110 on said handle, a pressure exerting shoe and power transmitting mechanism connecting said plunger to said shoe so as to actuate the same upon movement of the plunger to dislodge the pan in the event it has become frozen to the cooling' device and a casing cooperating with said shoe, said plunger, and said handle to substantially enclose said mechanism.

EARL BABCOCK. 

